Pat McAfee accuses ESPN executives of purposely sabotaging his show and leaking false information to the media

[TeTe]

These things happen when a successful startup sells out to a media conglomerate.

 

[mjmj]

These things happen when a successful startup sells out to a media conglomerate.

You may misunderstand whats happening. ESPN didn’t buy anything. They paid him for the right to air his program. McAfee, or his company, still owns the show. If he wants to tell them to fuck off, theres nothing they can do that won’t hurt them more than him. All they could do is cancel his College Game Day shows, which are done for the year anyways.

 

[ferrisjso]

Tbh he accused one executive and he named his name so there was no confusion about who he was talking about.

 

[eddymotto]

the pro wrestling insults just distract from the real issue - McAfee's ratings for ESPN are not great and he is picking fights with a major Disney on air talent.

ESPN is weak compared to what they were a decade ago. the fact that they licensed his show vs. hiring him is clear evidence of that.

curious what happens this offseason. the challenge for ESPN is that Rodgers is a weirdo but he is probably the biggest differentiator for the show.

 

[Fluffernutter]

Guy comes on a Disney owned program and insults a host of another Disney owned program.

Therefore, Big Mad.

 

[Octavian]

Zoinks!!!! He's the new Joe Rogan!


All things aside, he's an issue for ESPN because of what people say on his show. There's very little effort to filter or control topics which is obviously part of the allure but I am virtually certain not only did Kimmel publicly fire back at Rogers but his lawyers likely also contacted ESPN and Disney with a C/D. They want to lower liability from his show and to do that, they need more control.

 

[bandicoot]

Justice for McAfee

 

[ferrisjso]

the pro wrestling insults just distract from the real issue - McAfee's ratings for ESPN are not great and he is picking fights with a major Disney on air talent.

ESPN is weak compared to what they were a decade ago. the fact that they licensed his show vs. hiring him is clear evidence of that.

curious what happens this offseason. the challenge for ESPN is that Rodgers is a weirdo but he is probably the biggest differentiator for the show.

If Rodgers was a media person he'd be long gone McAfee or no McAfee. The issue is they can't ignore Rodgers for the next year or two because hes a major topic who will get a platform somewhere if he wants one.

Lets say ESPN banned Rodgers whats to stop Rodgers from going on the NY media press circuit and starting drama? Will the NY press just ignore the Jets starting QB? Thats the issue hes too important to be blackballed. And a partial blackball will just make him mad making the drama worse and other outlets will just cover him more.

Also the NFL was not able to shut up Colin Kaepernick they just got lucky he hates talking. If he wanted to take to the soapbox during his saga he would have been covered wall to wall.

 

[mjmj]

Again, it seems half the people in this thread have no idea wtf they're talking about. Disney/ESPN don't own shit here. They do not own any part of the McAfee show, they pay him to air the first two hours per day on their channel. That's it. Best they can do is request Rodgers visits after they stop airing, which he does about half the time anyways. Regardless, this has zero to do with Rodgers. It was about an ESPN executive leaking made up numbers to certain parts of the media to make it look like the show wasn't doing well.

 

[Joe]

They paid all this money to carry his show and its doing worse than sports center?

 

[Fluffernutter]

They paid all this money to carry his show and its doing worse than sports center?

Which show is cheaper to produce?

 

[Joe]

Which show is cheaper to produce?

I guess well find out if they cancel the deal

 

[mjmj]

Which show is cheaper to produce?

I feel like a broken record. ESPN doesn’t have any part in producing, editing, filming, etc… Nothing, they have zero involvement in the McAfee show beyond airing it 6 times per day.

 

[MM808]

I feel like a broken record. ESPN doesn’t have any part in producing, editing, filming, etc… Nothing, they have zero involvement in the McAfee show beyond airing it 6 times per day.

lol facts. Literally the only thing ESPN wanted was for them to not say Fuck, however someone on the show accidentally says it almost daily lol. Pat has the upper hand here and if they try to fuck with his show, he’ll just go back to YouTube without breaking a sweat.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Pat should hit up Portnoy, again. Pizza reviews and sports? Nothing better!